Johannesburg — THE 2010 Soccer World Cup organising committee and football governing body Fifa yesterday dismissed attempts by the English media to link the safety of the international showpiece to the murder of Afrikaner Weerstandsbeweging leader Eugene TerreBlanche.

Danny Jordaan - the CEO of the organising committee - said he could not understand how sections of the English media had managed to turn TerreBlanche's murder into a political conspiracy theory when it was a criminal matter.

"It was clearly a criminal act and crime happens in any country," he said. "I do not think that the South African media should condone this (the actions of the English media)."

While the reports tried to dissuade English fans from coming to SA in June and insisted that they were likely to be caught in the middle of a race war in the aftermath of TerreBlanche's murder, Jordaan said sane football lovers would see past the stories peddled by the British press.

"This country hosts Super 14 matches every weekend. So why are these questions asked only from football? Why?

"The fact of the matter is that this is still one of the most visited countries by tourists in the world and some 11-million visit every year."

Fifa general secretary Jerome Valcke said he was ignoring the alarmist theories peddled by the English media and preferred to continue preparing for the June kickoff of the tournament.

"I have been ignoring what has been written and said on television," the Frenchman said.

"From where we are now, we are ready. We are confident as we have always been."

Valcke said they were satisfied with their security arrangements around the World Cup and had done everything humanly possible to ensure a safe tournament.

"As far as security is concerned, we have done as much as we possibly could. We have done the maximum to ensure a high level of security. Chris Eaton from Interpol has also joined Fifa as part of the security detail," he said.

Organising committee chairman Irvin Khoza said there were just over 500 000 tickets to the Cup remaining and indications were that they would all be snapped up when the long-awaited over-the-counter ticketing phase opens on April 15.

"We are confident that we will be able to dispose of all those tickets," Khoza said.

The committee revealed that the tournament would be delivered within budget, contrary to those doomsayers who claimed that SA would run out of funds before the start of the event. The committee approved funding of 423m from Fifa to deliver the tournament and just over 32% of that was spent by the end of the 2008-09 financial year.

"Organising committees of all major events around the world have to contend with budgetary demands and pressures and this committee is no different," Jordaan said.

"I am happy to report that the organising committee has maintained financial prudence and discipline throughout and I am confident that this will continue as we enter the final phase of delivering the tournament."